The present disclosure describes systems and techniques relating to wireless communications.
Wireless communication devices can use one or more wireless communication technologies such as orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) or code division multiple access (CDMA). In an OFDM based wireless communication system, a data stream is split into multiple data substreams. Such data substreams are sent over different OFDM subcarriers, which can be referred to as tones or frequency tones. Various examples of wireless communication devices include mobile phones, smart phones, wireless routers, wireless hubs, base stations, and access points. In some cases, wireless communication electronics are integrated with data processing equipment such as laptops, personal digital assistants, and computers.
Wireless communication systems can include many base stations to provide effective coverage for wireless devices in the area. As the wireless devices move through the network, or are powered off and on, the wireless devices may need to establish a communication with an appropriate base station. To assist in this process, the base stations can generate synchronization signals with known codes and transmit these synchronization signals so that the wireless devices can perform detection and timing acquisition. For example, in a cellular network, a wireless device, often referred to as user equipment (UE), can acquire periodic synchronization signals transmitted by a base station, such as an evolved Node B (eNB), by observing signal samples within a single known time period and repeatedly restarting such observation until a synchronization signal is detected.